Video: Project Holodeck wants to build a virtual gaming world

David Konow, 26th July 2012

As we’ve seen with the mad 3D crusade, Hollywood is doing everything it can to bring audiences back to the movie theaters.

But do video games need technology like 3D, 4D, or something even beyond to increase sales?

Well, USC researchers are apparently working on developing a holodeck, which Winda Beneditti of In-Game describes as "a virtual world that seems just as real as the real world" (only much better...except, of course, when there’s a malfunction). Sounds like the narrationto a Michael Crichton coming attraction, but anyway...

According to Beneditti, the goal is to create an affordable virtual world gamers can fully immerse themselves in. You also can’t help but wonder if this could eventually create the big game/movie crossover that Hollywood’s been hoping for for some time. Think about it - one could theoretically use holodeck technology for games, as well as a movie itself. Perhaps even an all-in-one interactive combo? I

Personally, I don’t even want to speculate what on earth it would cost. Remember, there are several elements that have to all come together to pull all this off, including head and body gear, but altogether with the software it creates an immersive interactive world you can play and be a part of.

Interestingly enough, there’s already a game in development for the technology called Wild Skies, which allows two gamers to jointly navigate a spaceship. At the moment, the Holodeck project is only a prototype, and they’re hoping to eventually have it in arcades because you need a lot of space to play it, but of course the technology will ultimately be scrunched down for the home as well.